I was watching "The Big Valley" on D.V.D. and noticed that George Duning's main title is a song without lyrics, and that it mentions "The Big Valley" in the music without any lyrics ("The Big VALLEY"!). I can think of only two other main titles that mention the film's title in the main title without the lyrics - James Bernard's "Horror Of Dracula"'s ("Drac-A-LA" and Frank Devol's "The Dirty Dozen" (The Dirty DOZEN"). Can anybody out there think of any more examples?

Ha! I've just done a bit of research (clicking buttons on the compo) and I see that a song titled "A Time to Love" was performed in the film by "an uncredited blonde in the cabaret sequence". Lyrics by Charles Henderson. Couldn't find the lyrics themselves though. Must admit, I don't recall a song in the film... Does anyone remember if she goes "Och aye"? I do imagine that the song follows the Main Title melody.

I think I read somewhere that Herrmann refused to conduct it. Well, you'd expect that really. It wasn't a big hit, despite the film's success, and Schnazelbauf didn't become an A-list lyricist, though I believe he wrote arrangements for Jerry Lewis..

Ah yes William. That's the rejected song written for PSYCHO. It resurfaced in HIGH ANXIETY but, once more, preview audiences felt that it made the film "more kind of like a comedy", and it ended up on the cutting-room floor.

I was watching "The Big Valley" on D.V.D. and noticed that George Duning's main title is a song without lyrics, and that it mentions "The Big Valley" in the music without any lyrics ("The Big VALLEY"!). I can think of only two other main titles that mention the film's title in the main title without the lyrics - James Bernard's "Horror Of Dracula"'s ("Drac-A-LA" and Frank Devol's "The Dirty Dozen" (The Dirty DOZEN"). Can anybody out there think of any more examples?

Not a main title but an end title. I believe Leonard Rosenman's end title to Robocop 2 has a chorus chanting, "Robocop"! No other lyrics, just ..... "Robocop!"

Ah yes William. That's the rejected song written for PSYCHO. It resurfaced in HIGH ANXIETY but, once more, preview audiences felt that it made the film "more kind of like a comedy", and it ended up on the cutting-room floor.

Yes, there's a story, I dunno if it's apocryphal, that Goldsmith was asked to use the song as an end-title play-off for 'Psycho 2', but he declined vigorously. Perkins was apparently not averse to singing it, I suppose because it had publicity potential and might be a possible record hit.

Schnazelbauf's original issue of his autobiography, 'Sing it Like You Mean it' apparently has some deleted material on this, but ANY copy is hard to find nowadays. His career might have beem so different if his jazz title song lyrics for 'Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' had been accepted.